Like the World Cup, the Olympics provides a chance to be united and be proud of your country.

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The Olympics is also a outlet for people to decompress from their everyday lives.

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It is easy to get lost at how much it means for another country when one is just watching USA dominate every night as medals are won left and right with ease.

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But for a country like Vietnam winning gold for the first time this year was a huge deal and boost to morale. The guy is getting a 100k bonus from the state for the win. Also, Kazakhstan winning their first ever swimming medal is as big as Phelps or Ledecky winning every night.

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Romanian women gymnastics dominated the world for many years. For better or worse it was more important to Romania to have gymnastics as it's country's main priority than any other social issue.

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Yes, there are plenty of issues wrong with the Olympics just like the NFL, NCAA or FIFA.

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But the raw emotions in a world of reality tv is what makes all these events very popular. The Olympics creates a certain kind of happiness that you simply can't get from anything else in life.